Lunardi on the NIT

[wsu97]

Updated: March 3, 2006
Regular-season champs could steal bidsBy Joe Lunardi
Special to ESPN Insider
Archive

With Selection Sunday just days away, we can take a guess as to how the NIT field might shake out by applying NCAA selection criteria to its new baby brother.

Please note the following five groups of teams and the respective descriptions of each:

Groupings as of games played on March 5.

GROUP ONE
These are teams 1-16 on the board if the season ended today. In addition to receiving a bye in the opening round, they would host games in the subsequent round of 32.
• Hofstra
• Air Force
• Creighton
• Maryland
• Colorado
• Syracuse
• Utah State
• BYU
• Virginia
• Miami-FL
• Louisville
• Charlotte
• Saint Joseph's
• Louisiana Tech
• Old Dominion
• UTEP


GROUP TWO
These are teams 17-24 on the potential board. Each would receive a bye in the opening round, but travel to one of the schools in Group One in the round of 32.
• Houston
• UNLV
• Akron
• Vanderbilt
• Clemson
• Manhattan
• South Alabama
• Stanford


GROUP THREE
These are teams 25-32 on the board. Each would host an opening-round game against a team in Group Four below.
• Miami (OH)
• Northeastern
• Butler
• Hawaii
• Notre Dame
• Oklahoma State
• Iowa State
• Rutgers


GROUP FOUR
These are teams 33-40 on the NIT board. Each would travel to a team in Group Three for an opening-round game. • La Salle
• Nebraska
• Saint Louis
• Temple
• South Carolina
• Montana
• Lipscomb
• Georgia Southern


Also in the mix: • VCU
• Ohio
• Penn State
• Northwestern
• Minnesota
• Kansas State
• Georgia


GROUP FIVE
This may be the most important group of all, as it turns out. Each of these teams has already clinched the regular-season championship (or top seed) in its respective conference. Any of these who do not make the NCAA field will be automatically included in the NIT, taking spots away from teams in Group Four (or more??) above.
• Albany (America East)
• Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun)
• Northern Arizona (Big Sky)
• Pacific (Big West)
• UNC Wilmington (CAA)
• Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon)
• Pennsylvania (Ivy League)
• Manhattan (MAAC)
• Kent State (MAC)
• Oral Roberts (Mid-Continent)
• Delaware State (MEAC)
• San Diego State (Mountain West)
• Fairleigh Dickinson (Northeast)
• Bucknell (Patriot)
• Georgia Southern (Southern)
• Northwestern State (Southland)
• Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
• Southern (SWAC)

sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=lunardi_joe&id=2350229

[Wolf]

UIC and Loyola would have had a decent shot at the NIT if the would have won a few more of the gimme games they lost.

[Big D]

They also would have had a better chance if they would have played an all D1 schedule. those games agains D2 and NAIA teams hurt us this time of year because they aren't considered by the selection committee.

[observer]

littlegreg said:

UIC and Loyola would have had a decent shot at the NIT if the would have won a few more of the gimme games they lost.

Loyola probably is deserving of NIT but not gonna happen.

[Class of '83]

ESPN's bubble watch

sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bubblewatch?id=29